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Netanyahu meets Merkel in Berlin

 

At the meetings between the Israeli Prime Minister and the German Chancellor discussions centred on the current situation in the Middle East.

 

During a joint press conference on 21 October the heads of the Israeli and German governments discussed the situation in the Middle East, which is currently escalating. In Israel many people have lost their lives in recent weeks as a result of attacks on pedestrians. Israeli security forces killed several of the attackers. The Gaza Strip and the West Bank have likewise experienced outbreaks of violence.

At the start of her speech the German Chancellor commemorated the victims: “I wish to express our deepest sympathies for the victims of terrorist attacks in Israel. Today terrible things have happened again. It is our hope that all parties involved will work towards deescalating the situation.” Merkel explained that she would be having further meetings with her counterpart and once again reaffirmed Germany’s commitment to a two-state solution. “We believe it’s important that the Israeli Palestinian conflict is solved, and we are still convinced that a two-state solution is the best way forward here.”

 

In his speech, Israeli’s Prime Minister outlined the extent of the current violence. “I have come to Berlin at a most difficult time. Just today we had three more terrorist attacks. In the past few weeks we have had close to 40 attacks, in which Palestinian terrorists tried to kill Israelis, with different kinds of weapons, with cars, with knives, with guns.” Netanyahu emphasized the values of his country. “Israel wants peace. I want peace – the kind of peace that is based on mutual recognition with firmly established security agreements that enable Israel to defend itself.”

 

The two heads of government stressed the importance of the special relationships between the two states and drew attention to the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relationships between Israel and Germany.

On 23 October Germany’s Federal Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier is set to meet the Israeli Prime Minister.

Partner

Dear ladies and gentlemen,

This is the archived content of official bilateral website that was founded by the German and Israeli government on the occasion of the Jubilee Year 2015. This website contains the articles of the bilateral website, but will be static and will not be maintained. It serves as documentation of the multi-faceted cooperation between Germany and Israel We hope you enjoy exploring 50 years of German-Israeli relations!

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